This review has been long in the coming. Released in early March, it was ceratainly one of the most anticipated releases of this year, after universal praise blanketed Funeral, their debut CD from 2004. Sophomore releases are always used to gauge the "true talent" of bands with succesful debuts, and Neon Bible has come to show Funeral was no accident. Although it took me two or three weeks to warm up to it, it has easily become my favorite record released this year so far--and the first half of this year has already seen the release of many more better albums than the full of 2006 did. Shit, I've actually payed twice (once on-line, then again for the disc) for at least three records this year already. But that'll be the topic of another entry.

Where to begin? Should I just say that I don't remember ever seeing a CD released to so many 5-star reviews, April's Q even going as far as naming it "record of the year" (in the first quarter!)? Or that the "Hit Emocional" comic strip in April's Rockdelux--which usually deals with a song from decades past and the impact it had in the cartoonist's life--for the first time was about a song on a CD fresh out of the factory? Or should I just repeat what I said when I reviewed Funeral: not since the days of James had I heard music that was this cathartic? Because this is a record I can listen to once and again and still get excited about it. I've always said I am more a "melody person" than a "lyrics person", but there's a factor that's not related to music or words I keep forgetting: "emotion", and it's probably what pulls me in the most into a song. There's a world of difference between listening to someone with a nice voice hit the right notes, and forgetting who you are to become the person behind the speakers.

As I said before, this wasn't one of those records that pulled me in the first time I listened to it. One thing I couldn't wrap my head around was why it sounded somewhat muffled, as if not much care were taken at the production and mixing stages. And even now I wonder if it would feel different if the sound were brighter, but maybe this is the sound they were going for, one that wasn't too polished, forcing the songs to rely on the compositions themselves. Maybe Arcade Fire are in that sweet spot where they're old enough to know but young enough to not care. They've certainly matured since Funeral, displaying much richer arrangements and tackling heavier themes, but they're still naive enough to sing like affected teenagers in "Black Wave" or say things like "I know a place / where no cars go".

The music is at times intense, sometimes bombastic, occasionally spiritual, but always beautiful and moving. I supppose Funeral may have a handful of tracks that could be considered better than any song on Neon Bible, but it also has greater valleys. Bible is much more consistent, in the quality of the songs, in its themes and in how it's strung together. I suppose I could go on writing a paragraph for each song, pulling them apart in search of all their musical and lyrical nuances, but I wouldn't be able to do them justice. Again, their biggest strength lies in the emotions their music ignites. The best example of all of the above can be found, I believe, in the suite composed by "Black Wave/Bad Vibrations", what would seem to be two songs placed into one track on the record; because I like how they flow into "Ocean of Noise" so much--they are easily the three songs I've listened to the most this year--I've made a single track with all three songs for the purposes of this blog.

The average price of the CD in Spain is around 18 euros, so buying it in iTunes for 10 bucks was a no-brainer. After listening to it so much, I ended up shelling out close to 25 euros for the "special edition", which includes an animated neon bible on the front and a couple of flipbooks inside. I also liked the fact that the type and presentation they used for the lyrics is the same as used in most bibles.

A few years back I read an article on Radiohead that said they were "weird, arrogant, earnest, and beautiful--what all great rock bands should be". I don't know much about Arcade Fire's arrogance, but if we replace that item in the list with the not-too-dissimilar ambitious, they certainly fit the description of a geat band.